Pretend
by TheDevilYouDon't
Summary: When Harry and Hermione pretend to go out to get back at Ron and Ginny, they find out that they had stopped pretending long ago. Cheesy summary. Sorry. Harry/Hermione. Multi-chapter. R & R, please. Rated for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**I wrote this story while I was at my grandparents. It took me a total of 2 days, and that's all of the chapters. I must warn you ahead of time that this story is very short. **

**So here it is. It's probably the best I could do with this story when the shower at my grandparent's is running, and it's really loud, and my brother is singing **_**So Long Dearie**_** at the top of his lungs while my grandparents are in the kitchen talking loudly about canned peaches. But, whatever. R & R.**

_Pretend_

_Summary: When Harry and Hermione pretend to go out to get back at Ron and Ginny, the find out that it turned into something more than pretend._

Harry sat down in a chair next to Hermione's in the common room. Leaning back, Harry tried not to think about what Dean and Ginny were doing in the corner one one armchair. Across from him, he knew that Hermione was doing the same thing, but with Ron and Lavender, who were in front of the fire. Shaking his head, Harry noticed the dull pounding that had formed over his right eye.

"Harry?" Hermione called in a quiet voice. Looking up, Harry noticed that she looked worried about something.

"Yeah?" he muttered.

"We have to do something," she said.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, utterly confused.

"About Ron and Ginny. I don't think they understand what we're going through." Hermione explained.

"Oh," he said, comprehension dawning on his face. She wanted to get back at them for dating and publicly displaying their affections to other people when they were around. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well," Hermione started, clearly happy that she had him on her side. "I thought about it, and I think the best way is to give them a taste of their own medicine." she dropped her voice. "And, the best way to do that would be for us to pretend to date."

Harry furrowed his brown, thinking hard. "Why can't we date other people?" he asked.

"Because," she started. "we would just be using them. And, I don't know about you, but I don't want to do that to someone."

"Oh," Harry nodded. "Yeah. I guess. But, wait. Wouldn't that mean that I would have to kiss you? You're like my sister. I'm not sure if I could do that."

"To be convining, we would have to. I mean, I understand if you don't want to do it, it's not like--" Harry interrupted her, laughing.

"Hermione, it's okay. I wanna do this." Hermione looked relieved, and Harry laughed again. "When do we start this?" he asked.

"Oh, well, I was thinking that we could start it after your next Quidditch game. I could pull a Lavender." Hermione suggested, referring to when Lavender had kissed Ron in front of everyone after their last Quidditch game.

"That's a long way away. But, it's a good idea." Harry nodded. "But, you know that you're going to have to start talking to Ron again. Otherwise, it won't be believable."

"I know. And, you're going to have to stop looking like you want to hex Dean into the next century everytime you see him with Ginny." Hermione said.

Harry ran a hand through his heair and sighed. "Fine," Then he thought of how Ron and Hermione had acted towards eachother before he had started going out with Lavender. " We should probably start acting differently towards each other up until the Quidditch game. Like, you laugh at stupid things I say and I can act all pleased and stuff when you do."

"Good idea," Hermione nodded. "So, we start acting differently tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, I guess," Harry said, standing and grabbing his bag. Hermione did the same, and he turned towards the spiral staircase. "G'night, Hermione."

"Good night," she called back, already walking up her own staircase.

As Harry fell asleep, he couldn't help but notice how the conversation with Hermione had driven all thoughts of Dean and Ginny from his mind.

**Okay, I'll type and post Chapter 2 soon. R & R, please.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay. Here's the second chapter. I'm actually very happy with the response that I've been getting from this story. I personally thought the first chapter was terrible, but if you didn't, that's great! Enjoy.**

_Pretend_

_Chapter 2_

Harry woke the next morning feeling excited, although it took him several minutes to understand why. He smiled as he got out of bed and dressed slowly. Ron woke as he was pulling his socks on, muttering a good morning and starting to get dressed. Grabbing his bag, Harry sat down on his bed, waiting for Ron as he did every morning. When he had finished, we walked down the steps to the common room, where Hermione was waiting. Smiling and giving them both a good morning, she walked out of the portrait hole leading the two of us. As we walked, I shared a knowing glance with her.

Ron didn't even seem to notice that Hermione was speaking to him again, in fact, he treated her normally, as though he had never even made her upset. Hermione seemed to be talking to him with much more ease and luster than Harry thought she would, and he decided he would have to do as a good a job with Dean and Ginny as she did with Ron and Lavender. As they neared the Great Hall, he decided to do it. First, he caught Hermione's eye. Winking, he mouthed the word, "Now." She nodded.

"Blimey, I'm hungry," Ron said, rubbing his stomach as they sat down. _Perfect,_ Harry thought.

"Ron, when aren't you hungry?" he asked. Hermione giggled loudly and Harry sat up straighter, sticking out his chest a bit. Ron looked at the two of them with his brow furrowed, but he said nothing, returning to his food shortly.

Not long after, another oppurtunity showed itself. Hermione, who had been drinking from a large carton of milk had a thin layer of milk on her upper lip. Harry waited until Ron was watching, and then told Hermione about it just loud enough for her to hear. Hermione, who had been smart enough to take the hint, blushed and turned around to wipe it off. Once again, Ron looked confused, but as he had before, he looked away quickly.

The next few weeks went as the first day had, and soon both Ron and Ginny were thoroughly convinced that there was something going on between Harry and Hermione. Christmas came and went and the Quidditch match loomed closer, and Harry and Hermione only had chanced to congratulate each other on their preformances in the evenings. Hermione, who had been getting along splendidly with Ron, even bought him a birthday present, which she made sure was sent to his room by his birthday.

The morning of his birthday, Ron was poisened, and when Hermione went to see him, Harry had to remind her that if she worried more than neccessary, she would give them away. She obliged quickly, though she still was worried, and as Ginny passed them, she made a show of hugging Harry and burying her face in his sweater. Ginny scowled at them and had stopped her way into the hospital wing.

~~*~~

On the morning of the Quidditch match, Harry awoke with a huge swooping feeling in his stomach. The pressure of winning the match was even more enormous than usually, and whenever he thought about what lay ahead, his breathing became rapid and he felt as though he would throw up. He walked to the Great Hall with Hermione, stopping to see Ron before the match, and as they walked, she kept giving him words of encourage that he simply nodded at before sighing and trying to relax his breathing and pacing heart. Unable to eat anything, Harry left the Great Hall for the pitch, dressing in his scarlet robes and sitting down with his broomstick, waiting for the rest of the team.

McLaggen, who had taken the place of Ron as seeker and whom Harry hated, was _really_ the won who had caused them to lose, but Harry couldn't help thinking that it had really been him who had done it. Harry woke up in the hospital wing, his head feeling extremely sore and tender. he ran a light finger of where his head was bandaged and gasped at the odd feeling that erupted.

Ron, who was just two beds down from his, told Harry that Ginny had been to see him, although Harry didn't feel as excited about this as he normally might have. All that was on his mind was how disappointed Hermione would be with him for losing the match. Yes, McLaggen had certainly runed their plans for that night.

Around noon, Hermione came to visit him, and muttered for him to use the Prince's Muffliato speel on Ron, who was asleep, and Madame Pomfrey, who was in her office. Harry was shocked by this as Hermione had seriously diffused from him using any of the spells he got from his Potion's book before, but he obliged quickly, before she could change her mind and risk being caught.

"Well, our plans have certainly been ruined." Harry said after sitting up a bit.

"I know," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "That McLaggen. Anyway, I found a way for us to still carry out the basis of the plan."

"Great!" Harry said, grimacing and clasping his hand lightly to his tender head.

"So, I was thinking that I could come back later, when Ginny and Lavender come to visit Ron again, and we could do it then." she explained.

"Yeah, okay," Harry said, leaning back. "Good thing you thought of something. I was planning different ways to kill McLaggen anway."

Hermione laughed. "I'd better go before he wakes up. Try and get some rest before we come back later." She stood, patting Harry's leg, and, giving a small wave, she left. Lying back and yawning, Harry closed his eyes. Tonight was going to be weird.

**Duh duh duh duh! Anyhow, I've lengthened the chapters (they were **_**really**_** short before), and now there is only going to be four chapters, but each one with be longer. Yay! R & R, please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Oooh. The preformance. Yay! I must apologize before we start, it was pointed out in that in my last chapter, I accidentally wrote that McLaggen was the fill-in 'seeker'. This is a terrible mistake of mine, and I seriously apologize. D: It made me sad to know that I had messed up with something that major. (If you didn't know, McLaggen is the fill-in keeper. Not seeker. Duh.) But, nonetheless, this chapter is longer. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did!**

**So, without further ado(did I spell that right? No . . . I didn't. I know it.)! The third chapter!**

_Pretend_

_Chapter 3_

Harry was awake when Ginny, Lavender, and Hermione walked into the hospital wing, later that afternoon. Harry had slept from the time Hermione had left to the time when she walked in, and although he was sure he had more energy now, he couldn't help but feel the butterflies in his stomach. Hermione smiled weakly at him as she sat down down at the end of his bed, and he tried to return the smile, though the butterflies seemed to fly at a faster pace when he tried.

Harry saw Ginny mutter something to Ron, who furroed his brow in response, both casting them looks of confusion at different times. Lavender was talking animatedly to Ron, who clearly wasn't paying attention. She was saying things like, " . . .as soon as your better," and, " . . .who doesn't love my Won-Won?" As engulfed in her speech as she was, she didn't notice Ron look at her, eyebrows raised and lick his lips in wonder.

Harry and Hermione began to talk to calm themselves. Harry said stupid things that no one in their right minds would laugh at, while Hermione giggled like mad each time he stopped for breath. This earned them several reproachful looks from both Ron and Ginny, and after at least five looks from them each, the two of them praised eachother with their eyes and began to laugh even harder.

Lavender continued to talk, still not noticing that no one was paying attention to her. Harry and Hermione exchanged quick, slight nods, and before he knew it, Hermione was leaning towards him and kissing him feircly. They kissed back and forth for a moment, before Harry gained entrance into her mouth and stuck his tongue into it for show, though he couln't help but feel the sparks on his tongue as he did.

The other's reactions were almost immediate; Lavender's eyes widened and she gasped, though she was clearly happy that Hermione was kissing someone other than 'her' Ron. Ginny made a disgusted face, crossed her arms, and stormed out of the hospital wing, growling quite audibly. Ron's face turned red and he looks set to kill as he screamed at the top of lungs, "Oi!"

Harry and Hermione pulled apart, both looking cross. "What do you want?" Harry demanded.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ron yelled, sitting up.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Harry asked, smirking, turning back to Hermione and kissing her hard for emphasis.

"Stop that!" Ron yelled, while Lavender looked rather angry that he was no longer 'paying attention to her'.

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned to face Ron. "If you don't like it, don't watch." she said, in a way that was very different from her usual way of speaking, before Harry could say anything. Ron huffed and turned back to face Lavender again. He didn't speak to either of them for the rest of the day.

~~*~~

By the time Harry was released from the hospital wing, all of Hogwarts seemed to know about the incident during his stay. It was now common knowledge to everyone that Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, was dating Hermione 'Know-It-All' Granger. Hagrid had even believed it and had pulled the two of them into a bone-crushing hug in the Great Hall before breakfast one day, telling them how he had always known it would happen. Even Professor McGonnagall had given the two of them a happy look and had even smiled on their way out of class one day.

Happy that everyone was buying it, Harry and Hermione made sure that they were always seen holding hands, playing with eachother's hair, or kissing everytime they could. By the end of their fourth day, Harry had even heard a second year say to his friends something about the 'Chosen Couple', which Harry had found extremely humorous and had hastened by at once to tell Hermione.

Ron and Ginny had both stopped talking to them both, although Hermione had seen them in a corner, huddled together and talking in hushed tones one evening. They had promptly stopped speaking as she passed them on her way to sit with Harry by the fire.

Although Ginny was kissing Dean as much as ever, Harry felt extremely happy for the first time in his life. And, for some reason, whenever he saw Dean and Ginny wrapped around one another, he no longer felt the urge to beat Dean into oblivion and kiss Ginny romantically on the spot as he had dreamed about so long ago.

"Maybe you're over her, then." Hermione had said when Harry had told her about his sudden change in feelings.

"Then we did this for nothing." he muttered, shaking his head.

"No we didn't," she told him. "We can still get to Ron."

But to Harry, it didn't seem like Ron cared anymore. In fact, he had even started talking to Harry again, although he never mentioned anything about him and Hermione. He had started to talk about how Lavender and him were going to live together in a big house, and he would have horses for her to ride with him, and about what they would name their children.

"I just really think that things between Lavender and me are getting _really_ serious." Ron said one day.

"Yeah," Harry mumbled. He had started to block out more and more of Ron's speeches, but Ron seemed intent on reminding everyone they knew that he and Lavender were soul mates. He had even practically yelled it to somone sitting next to Hermione in the common room one night. The confusing part was that she hadn't even cared.

**There we go. It's done. I hope you liked it. :D R & R, if you could!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! This is the last chapter of this story. Or, it's supposed to be. I'm still trying to decide if I want to write more. Enjoy!**

_Pretend_

_Chapter 4_

"Hermione?" Harry asked. They were sitting in the common room several weeks after their first preformance trying to finish a particularly nasty essay for Potions.

"Yes?" Hermione answered, not looking up from her copy of _Advanced Potion-Making_.

"Do you still feel the way that you used to about Ron?" Harry had been wondering this for several weeks now.

Hermione stopped reading and laid the book down on her lap, staring at the ground. Several minutes later, she opened her mouth as though to speak, but promptly closed it. "I don't know. I mean, I thought I did, but now I'm not sure," she muttered, a little while later.

Harry nodded, but looked at his feet and stared at his trainers. If the original reason why they were 'together' was lost, why were they still pretending? It didn't make any sense to him. _But_, he thought suddenly, _I'm not giving this up because it feels so good. It feels too . . . __**right**__ for me to turn and leave this at friendship again._ "Then why are we still pretending?" he asked her, hoping that she had the same answer as him.

"Because," Hermione started in a whisper. "It felt better being together than we had ever imagined it would with Ron and Ginny."

"Huh," Harry mumbled, at a loss of words. Hermione nodded. "Who would have thought?"

"Not me," Hermione whispered. Hary laughed. His first _real_ laugh since the whole thing had started. "I think it's funny, though."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, looking at her.

"Well it's funny how it started out as pretend and ended as real," she explained.

"Ah," Harry said, stroking his chin with his index finger.

"You know what's weird? I think that Ron and Ginny are over us too," Hermione was looking over where Ginny was wrapped around Dean and Ron was holding Lavender.

Harry followed her gaze, laughing. "Well, Ginny may be, but it sure did seem like Ron was trying to make you jealous," he said.

"Ah, I'm over him," Hermione laughed. "We should finish our homework,"

"Since when have I cared about homework?" Harry asked, leaning towards her.

"It was worth a try," Hermione said. Harry chuckled and pressed his lips against her's.

**Okay, I know it was short. So, shoot me. No, really . . . Try it. Tell me what you thought; Was it terrible? Too confusing? Too short? Too good? Okay? Anything! Just tell me. If you didn't like it, I'll be sure to take it down and fix it. I promise, Master. ::Limps away, hump making walking uncomfortable:: (Get it? It's Igor. Right . . . Nevermind.)**

**Oh, and if you could, tell me if you think this was a good ending, or if I should make one more chapter. :D Thanks!**


	5. Alternate Ending

**Finally! The alternate ending. LOVE ME....Kidding. Enjoy.**

They were at it again. Ron could see that much. Hermione was on Harry's lap and they looked as though they were feasting on one another's mouths. He shook his head and leaned down to kiss Lavender's forehead. She had fallen asleep on his shoulder as they had talked by the fireside that night. They had been discussing their relationship, or more like, their lack of one. And that was when they both decided to develop whatever the bloody hell they had originally wanted from on another.

Ginny and Dean were in the corner, not talking. It looked as though they had another row not long before. Ginny leaned away from him, her arms crossed and a scowl crossed her face. Dean looked angry as well, though he looked more disappointed than anything. Ron reckoned he was disappointed that he was fighting with his girlfriend rather than snogging her senseless until midnight.

Ron chuckled and turned back to Harry and Hermione. They were still snogging. Ron rolled his eyes and pulled out a book he'd borrowed from the library -- _This Centuries Greatest Quidditch Teams_. Normally he wasn't on who much enjoyed reading in his spare time. Then again, it wasn't as if any of his school text books explained much about Quidditch.

"Harry?" Hermione said slowly as they stopped for air. She was sitting on his lap in a near empty common room. Normally they would have stopped by now, but seeing as both Ron and Ginny were still in the Common Room at the time, they had decided to carry on a bit longer than they normally would have.

"Yes?" he asked, looking up at her, his hands still framing her small and delicate face.

"Why are we still doing this?" she asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"Look around you," Harry did. "No one is even watching anymore. Quite frankly, I don't think anyone even cares."

Harry furrowed his brow and shook his head, trying to clear it of unwanted thoughts. He sighed, then quickly took a deep breath before trying to sort out what he was going to say before he blurted out something incoherent. "You're right," it came finally. Really? That was it?

Hermione nodded and leaned down and burrowed her head into his sweater. "Why?" he heard her squeak before he completely lost her in one of his many Weasley sweaters. Harry thought about it, not sure about what he could possibly tell her. To be honest, he had absolutely no idea why they had carried on for so long, seeing as it was still just 'pretend'. No one cared, and it didn't even seem to bother Ron and Ginny apart from that first few weeks. Finally, it hit him.

"We did it because...it's not pretend anymore, is it?" he managed to ask. Hermione's face suddenly reappeared, watching him with wide eyes. Even he couldn't miss the glistening tears that were beginning to form around the brilliant brown that her eyes normally had.

"It isn't," she mumbled so quietly that no one apart from Harry would have been able to hear her.

"Hermione?" His voice pulled her back to Earth. She looked up at him. "Can you remember when it went from pretend to real?" He sure couldn't.

She seemed to be thinking for several moments before her eyes found his again. She shook her head before leaning over and kissing his cheek. "I don't want it to go back to what it was before, though." Harry nodded in agreement before kissing her softly on the lips.

Hermione crawled off his lap and leaned down to collect her books in her bag. She stood and slung her bag across her back before leaning down and kissing the corner of Harry's mouth. It was sort of an unspoken agreement to carry on as they had been, for real this time.

"I love you, 'Mione," he mumbled into her ear, hoping that the words did not come out as a shock to her.

She looked down at him as she straightened up, a slight look of utter pleasure and surprise mingled in the tears that slowly began to fall down her face. "I love you too, Harry. For real this time," and with that, she turned and walked up the steps to the girl's dormitories. Harry sat for a while, staring at his trainers, a smile splashed across his face.

**Ta da! Hope you enjoyed. Please tell me what you thing. Sorry about the ridiculously long wait for this alternate-ending. Writer's block gots me down. :/ **


	6. Author Note

**A/N: **Okay, so I've been considering rewriting _Pretend._ Because it was only of my earlier works, it never really turned in to what I wanted it to be. However, I think that I could make it better, fix the things I dislike, and…just feel…atoned. xD

Anyway, nothing is set in stone until I get some feedback. Let me know what you think. That would be greatly appreciated.


	7. Second Author Note

**A/N: **Okay, so I've decided that I'm actually going to rewrite this story. Since I'm working on _The Truth of the Matter_ and _Faster than Sound_ right now, though, it may be a while.

The new version will be called _Stretching the Truth_. Make sure that you keep an eye out for it. :D Thanks for the input. It means a lot. :3


	8. ReWrite Posted

**A/N: The first chapter of this re-write has been posted and the second will arrive tomorrow. Feel free to check it out. It's called, **_**Stretching the Truth,**_** just like I promised.**


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